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| - I got auto insurance through Progressive at the age of sixteen. I had good coverage and fair rates. I don't even really recall my premiums raising much after I got a speeding ticket or two in my teenage years. I had immense brand loyalty toward Progressive, because, while I have never, ever had to file a claim or had any issue at all and was basically just a dream of a customer, giving them money to insure me and not really needing much in return.
Then, life happened. I graduated college, sold my car, and moved across the country to take care of my dying grandfather. Shortly after this, I took his 15-year-old car and drove back North to take a job in Detroit. When it came time to put the car into my name, naturally, I went to Progressive for insurance.
And was flagged, among other things, for fraud and denied coverage. I spent hours on the phone with customer service agents who would tell me I needed to do a) thing or b) thing and then I would be able to legally drive my car. What this basically boiled down to is that Progressive thought I was going to defraud them because I, at 22, have never had a utility bill in my name. Is that really that weird? I've rented or leased since turning 18 and it's always been included in my rent. However, according to like five different agents to whom I spoke, this is the only thing you need to be able to get car insurance (Not a spotless driving record, no history of filing claims, a great credit score, a Bachelor's degree, or a steady job: all of which I have) ... but an electricity bill.
Progressive set me up with some sort of insurance agent, and told me this was the only way I would be able to get coverage. They were somewhat friendly about the whole thing, gave me the number and address of an agent in my area, and assured me that this is the only way I could get someone to vet that I am not a fraud. I didn't know what else to do, and, being someone who had to drive my car to work every day, agreed to this and wound up paying literally 4x what my premium had been before. Again, because the lack of a utility bill in my name made me a total fraud.
This is where I admit that, yes, I was really naive in my frantic state. I was so worried about getting coverage and not driving without insurance that I allowed Progressive to lie to me, make me feel uninsurable, and get me to pony up any amount of money to correct this. In the end, I ended up looking into Esurance and they were able to provide me the same coverage at 1/3 of the premium I had been assigned by the whole predatory insurance agent Progressive talked me into going through.
At the end of the day, I guess I was only out a few hundred dollars (but in what universe is that not a big deal?) but the more important part is that this is a company that preys upon naive, low-income people.
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